Monde Sitole is 25-year-old Adventurer, Alpinist, Poet, Entrepreneur and Youth Leader. He was part of the first youngsters to attend school onboard a tall ship namely SV Concordia as part of the class afloat international school based in Nova Scotia Canada where they covered many sea miles attending classes/semesters literally afloat where they sailed from Cape Town, Namibia, ST Helena, Ascension Island, Fernando Island, Brazil, Trinidad, Tobago, Bermuda Island and London.
After that he was chosen to represent Africa in the international Pangaea Mike Horn young explorers camp in Switzerland Chateau o doex. Where he met seasoned and accomplished explorer Mike Horn who with his team Geberit, Officine Panerai, Mayo Clinic, DaimlerGroup and University of Munich Further engrossed him about alternative energy solutions, our ecology, conservation philanthropy and responsible exploring.
My Definition Of Success | The is a quote that has anchored and given intent to my whole life and it clearly defines my ideas of success and what it means. “All my life one of my greatest desires has been to travel to see and touch unknown countries, to swim in unknown seas, to circle the globe, observing new lands, seas, people, and ideas with insatiable appetite, to see everything for the first time and for the last time, casting a slow, prolonged glance, then to close my eyes and feel the riches deposit themselves inside me calmly or stormily according to their pleasure, until time passes them at last through its fine sieve, straining the quintessence out of all the joys and sorrows.”
But to unquote, now success has mushroomed and because of the road I have travelled and the many people who have shaped my mind set it now is more described and composed by a will to partake and join forth efforts to make sure others reach their full potential in has been these experiences that have left me suspended in awe…that have altered my mind set the realizations that have opened my horizons the little achievements I have thieved from dear life ..that carry me and supplied me with a burning desire to spur others to dare to dream envision beyond any circumference and grab hold of their dreams no matter how small, big, absurd they might seemingly appear and couple that with core, sound and research findings to make all these intents a reality. To know that another soul has breathed better because of my little efforts is to have succeeded.
I Am Driven By | What drives me I think is regardless of any adequate definition…I think I just have a knack, a yonder to want to know, new knowledge fills me with immense satisfaction, I have a childlike soul and spirit when I see new buildings, seeing obstacles my eyes light up. A mind set I got from climbing is that you have climbed the mountains many times in your head before and you then have a greater reservoir to draw from when you actually on the peak. A deep yearn to be great, that straight faced determination to forge ahead, to carve, to spur a revolution, to create, to escape mediocre, to live a deserving life, to march on to cha cha and tango life…to be free. To assume you’re right…..to arise to make yourself heard and listened, elegantly and fearlessly finally begin….
To hold a bull by the horns, sweat, bleed, grow a backbone .
Do what’s expected and much more, mature, to sacrifice all.
My Highlights | Over the years I have assumed that a separate life and career are for people who don’t see their career as part of their lives. For me, there has been no dichotomy. The highlight that is very vivid in my mind is the experience when I was aloft on a square rigged Tallship in the in The Atlantic furling sails only wearing my board shorts and flip flops. That experience confirmed greater things yet to be achieved because a month ago I could not swim and now I was doing big sailing manoeuvres. Another one is when I climbed Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe in Russia, when I had been dropped by gear sponsor a day before I was scheduled to leave….that experience actually asked and questioned the authenticity of the intents that fuel my endeavours. So, to me that was an invaluable lesson that transformed a more daring stance to living my whole life. Another experience was traveling to Alaska to scale Mount Denali and going there without knowing where I would stay…I had to organise the accommodation with a friend via a phone I asked from a person on the plane…and I had my equipment stolen at Amsterdam transiting.
The Difference Between Good And Great | It is not the big, dramatic steps that instantaneously alter you to midnight success, but it’s the patient efforts that you maintain day in day out that often concomitantly mold and transform to the realization of a pursuit. So, invariably success is a choice you make for yourself a realization much like Simon Sinek’s Y analogy that in fact separates greats from flops and those who would like to remain as just statistic and commodity. It’s bravery and discipline.
A Key Talent | A talent I possess is to articulate and carry forth a vision to fruition. Pascal Blaise says all man’s demise begin when he cannot spend a single day alone. I think firstly, I had to establish a space where I can sit with myself and really distinguish the Y in my life. I had to sit with myself and begin with Y before discovering my why and how…Without sitting with yourself and immerse in whatever doubts and fears…I believe it is when one has fully sat with themselves and is convinced post a thorough honest evaluation can emerge with a strong and firm realization of his/her goals. Fears and doubts firstly need not be viewed as taboo but as a chance to advance forth with new knowledge a chance for innovation. Then you must empower yourself with as diverse knowledge as possible. I knew a house DJ who never listened to much house but jazz and blues that made him great and influential. There is an impediment called confirmation bias where one is only reading knowledge that only confirms what he or she knows that cannot develop one.
“A culture that cannot unlearn…can never be ready for the challenges of the future.” – E. Ted Prince. So, you must read poetry, prose, psychology, classics, attend opera, whatever, just empower yourself with as much diverse content and enrich your soul. Be a vessel, let knowledge show itself and then sift what’s concurring with true leadership. You need to get the knowledge, the essential stuff, attend business seminars. You must understand the financials, not just the poetry side of your proposal. You need to invest in continuous research. Put it on paper. Whatever you envision put it on paper and stand not on your desire to go but GO!
Attend seminars, grooming and etiquette schools, learn more languages and different ways for resolutions, invest in reading, read books, articles, compare papers and research findings.
And position yourself for opportunities. Ability without opportunity is almost useless.
70 percent of success is showing up .
If you have no plan…you risk the chance of waking up to dodgy situations….everywhere you decide to spend your precious time make sure its intended and gives meaning to your path. You have to avail yourself to be many things yourself. Be your own manager, PR and so forth. Before you can hand your work to a professional team you have to know even the small nuances in your projects because what doesn’t grow us or is delaying growth is that we have not yet assumed the incremental fundamentals the trust, and discipline that is able to build long living and functioning operations .
You have to be what you speak. A lesson learnt from etiquette school.
You need to package your brand, because you measure twice but cut once.
You need a distinguished brand so that you partner with brands because of what you epitomise not desperation.
You need to fund your projects yourself by will, efforts, funds and sleepless nights.
Networking is another important factor.
You need to kick those doors open and reckon with the powers that be that you have arrived.
Turn your wishes into intentions and labor hard with mad man’s determination.
Forget fame and instant gratification and improve your merits.
As a speaker, I have learned that it is very incremental for speakers!
Regardless of whether you are speaking to inform, persuade, sell, or motivate, your primary objective as a speaker is to instil change. Consequently you need to focus more on changing the mindset of your audience rather than providing them with a skill set.
The Characteristics Of Success | I conduct myself in a principled, disciplined, structured manner when going about every undertaking and it is honoured and treated with a watchmakers diligence. I tend to package myself with earnest and noble quality. Another mindset that has anchored my whole life has been “excuses are for people who have not established what they want”. My father used to say being broke is immature. I have a militant mindset and have sought and surround myself with meaningful people because I believe you cannot be an eagle and chill around chickens. I am eternally stubborn and know that the most important person you need to impress and convince is yourself because you cannot marvel with a dream you don’t believe in.
Principles I Live By | If you cannot solve an argument with peace you cannot stop war –Somalian quote. I believe leadership, true leadership is demanding…the most important key to all of this is to begin a dialogue. Dialogues are good because it’s when times are seemingly dim and gloomy that swords can sharpen swords and arise forth more innovative solutions. True leadership is reluctant, demanding, kind, passionate and it stands for nothing but development, so it’s a quality I hope to embody. Hence I always associate with people who are more inspirational than me if there were an instrument to measure. Martin Luther says: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”.
Critical Skills I Develop | I have emphasised working on strategy so I can measure if the efforts I have laboured on have proved impactful, working out a structured methodology. I have also now gathered that networking is also an important wealth creator system. I’ve also learned the principle that you measure twice but cut once. Always make sure the final cut is on point and well researched as the world is unforgiving.
How I Use My Mind | The world is God, all the world was first created by it. When I succeed on a mountain I realize I have climbed the mountain many times already so the battle is won in the fields of the mind, hence we emphasize that one sit with himself and discover for themselves and travel the path first alone. I also say its not the mountain you conquer but yourself. There is no bi path, success is the only option I have, no second options. I honor one master.
Lessons I Have Learnt | I have learnt that life has no ideal definition…and that life is beyond full stops, firm and stances hiding behind sophistry to mask our uncertainties. The greatest gift life has granted is just to be at times .
Dealing With Doubt | I have gathered that our world today seeks to create an illusion quixotic realm wherein we are supposed to surrender whatever discovery, upset, dissatisfaction and to carry on living with no introspect or revisiting of memorised truths….where doubts are taboos jailed inside claustrophobic consensus full stops. Where innovation is held prison by scorn, protest, discrimination and left uninvited in a Gordian knitted box. I believe we should begin now to arise and uncoil ourselves from these knots where we hide masked by sophistry to maintain a seemingly sane existence in the only functional life we have been prescribed. Doubts must begin to be viewed not as unproductive or an impediment but as light strides to new knowledge, not tabooed. We risk a lot from this self-limiting cancer, now we need to fashion a way of going about that is not chicken to grow.
I embrace doubts and negativity. I explore and learn from it. But, as for in relation to my dreams, remember I have set with myself first and am at peace and am clear.
Performing At My Peak | “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. And if I don’t practice for three days, the public knows it.” – Louis Armstrong.
My Future Dreams And Ambitions | I want to create #Dialogue App, an education App that will be a portal for activists, researcher and their findings, students, private sector pastorals and for the greater community to engage on quality and meaningful content on education. We will thereupon host #DiaogueBookclubs, #Dialogue Screenings. We want to begin a dialogue under Mondetalks educational Strategies where we do talks, workshops and seminars for school children and also involving the parents as a child is raised by the whole village.
Mondetalks Educational Strategies is by no means purporting that it has all the answers but it recognizes that an accelerated reflection needs to happen and maintains that we as a whole can do much to penetrate and codify our efforts and begin a cogent dialogue for the welfare of our young people and coming generations. If we are hesitant or are too chicken to change we risk awakeing to a regretful distressful future. So, now a glaring opportunity stares at us and we need to take charge because now than ever we need to join because when all seems dim and gloomy we need to share models and swords to sharpen swords and arise with even more advance innovative strategies to advance humankind . I want to do more talks across the globe with my Monumental mind set Seminars. My greatest goal is to open and advance research lab for innovators taking inspiration from MIT institute.
The Best Advice I’ve Received | Put it on paper! Time is money!
Useful Links |
